Soft Tears
by kittykatloren
Summary: "Ah, my beautiful flower," he murmured against her skin. He felt her trembling breaths in the scant air between them. "It would be impossible to not worry about you. You are an accident just waiting to happen." Tohru/Shigure oneshot; works in manga/anime.


**A/N: **I wrote this before I fell in love with Shigure/Akito, but it's still a cute couple anyway. Just a random little scene that could have taken place in the manga.**  
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**Words: **823  
**Characters:** Shigure, Tohru  
**Time: **Sometime mid-manga, I suppose, doesn't matter too much  
**Genre:** Romance/Friendship

**Disclaimer: **Everything you recognize belongs to Takaya Natsuki, not me.

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He heard soft, tiny sounds as he passed her door. They made him stop in his tracks, curious, concerned. He waited in a short silence. Then the sounds came again – the sounds of quiet tears cried into a pillow. Even in just the sound of her sobs, Tohru's sweet voice resonated in his heart. Through the darkness, he opened her door and stepped into the room. He could barely see through the night.

But his gaze was sharp enough to discern her. She lay curled on her bed – the pink bed he had given her – and she clung to her blankets and pillows.

"Tohru?"

She didn't move when he said her name, but her weeping halted for a moment. "Shigure-san…?"

He walked over and sat on the edge of her bed, close to her, close enough to see her bright eyes open blearily to focus on him. She curled her fingers more tightly around her blankets. Tears sparkled on her cheeks.

Shigure brushed them away. "Tohru… why are you crying?"

Slowly, her eyes only half-open, she sat herself up a little in the bed. Her head fell onto Shigure's arm. He felt damp, soft tears fall there, and glancing down at her, he saw that her eyes were closed again; no more bright innocence glittered in her face. Her little hands fisted around his robes instead.

"Shigure… I'm scared," she said at last. "I'm so scared… of losing you all. I don't know what I'd do. I love you too much."

Carefully he lifted his arm and placed it around her shoulders. Her head slipped into his lap, her cheek resting near his knee, and her hands moved at once to cling to his robes there, her body instinctively curling around his. Shigure stared in fascination at her form. Sure, he had imagined her in this bed, next to him, in a thin, sheer nightgown; he was a man like any other, and Tohru was a beautiful girl. But not like this. His conscience, small though it was, ached to see her in such pain. Gently Shigure threaded his fingers through her tangled hair.

"Why, don't be scared, my flower. You've got three strong men in this house to keep you safe. Well, two are boys, but still. Just place anyone who would hurt you in between Kyo and Yuki, and you and I can just watch in perfect peace and harmony as the offender gets torn to shreds in the crossfire."

She gave a tiny little laugh. "But… I'm not scared of something happening to _me_. I'm scared of something happening to _you_."

"We've lived among this crazy family for so many years now, haven't we? We can take care of ourselves. It's _you_ we worry about."

"Oh, please don't worry… I'm so sorry if I've caused you to worry, Shigure-san, you've been so kind to me."

He glanced down at her again. She had titled her head so that their eyes met. Hers were still blurred with exhaustion, but honest and full, and he couldn't help but return his hands to her cheeks to erase the tracks of her recent tears. He couldn't even imagine her thoughts at the moment. But he was reveling in every second in her simple company, her blind trust, her pure compassion. Shigure could no longer resist her.

Now was the moment that he could test so many of his theories. Here he could find the answers to his never-ending "what if" questions and stories. It was the "what if" of never having fallen for Akito, and instead being able to love this girl with his whole heart. It was a tantalizing dream, indeed, merely a theory, but a tempting one nonetheless.

He leaned down and gently pressed his lips against hers. He felt her eyelashes brush his cheeks, wet with tears.

"Ah, my beautiful flower," he murmured against her skin. He felt her trembling breaths in the scant air between them. "It would be impossible to not worry about you. You are an accident just waiting to happen."

Even in the darkness, he saw – or perhaps felt – her blush. He could at the very least imagine her damp cheeks flushed and pink and innocent. "I'm sorry…"

He laughed a little, leaned back away from her, and rested his head on the wall behind him. "Go to sleep now, Tohru-kun. I will be here to make sure nothing happens to scare you – to show you that you will never lose us."

Out of the bottom of his vision, he saw her eyes flutter closed again. He soothed her with a hand gently outwitting the knots in her hair. Her hands remained curled around his clothes, and her skin lay cool against his body, but she did not wake to cry her soft tears again.


End file.
